Council has only issued two fines for dog mess

It’s been revealed that only two fines have been issued for dog fouling on the eve of a new campaign being launched by the council to tackle the issue.

East Dunbartonshire Council says it’s continuing the fight against dog fouling using a combination of information days, followed by periods of strong enforcement.

This coincides with a two-week national campaign ‘Ditch The Dirt’ which is being run this week by the charity Keep Scotland Beautiful.

But community wardens have only imposed two fines to dog owners who did not pick up their pet’s mess since April this year.

Diane Campbell, director of governance and regulation, said: “Community wardens have a very wide remit and dog fouling enforcement is only one part of their job.

“Other duties include the new decriminalised parking enforcement scheme as well as anti-social behaviour noise complaints, youth diversionary activities and other community issues.

“As well as undertaking enforcement activities, wardens work hard to raise awareness and change behaviours on community safety matters - working with schools, community groups and the general public on a range of initiatives.

They also act as a deterrent to anti-social behaviour while out and about in the community.

“The wardens work extremely hard to protect communities, improve community safety and reduce anti-social behaviour in conjunction with partners such as Police Scotland and colleagues across the council, including neighbourhood services teams.”